Device for separating, washing, and grading sand and gravel.



W. C. THOMPSON.

DEVICE FOR SEPARATING, WASHING, AND GRADING SAND AND GRAVEL.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 11, 1914.

1,149,989. Patented Aug. 10, 1915.

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W. C. THOMPSON. DEVICE FOR SEPARATiNG, WASHING, AND GRAD ING SAND ANDGRAVEL.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 11, I914.

v Patented. Au

mmmtoz UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM CLAY THOMPSON, or STEILACOOM, WASHINGTON.

DEVICE FOR S EPARATING, WASHING, AND GRADING SAND AND GRAVEL.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM CLAY THOMPf soN,a citizen of the United States,-residing at Steilacoom, in the county ofPierce and State of Washington, have invented a new and useful Devicefor Separating, Washing,

and Grading Sand and Gravel, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the separating, Washing and grading of sand andgravel by gravity'in conjunction with inclined screens, bars, punchedplates, and so forth, and has for its objectthe provision of novel meanswhereby to render the process more expeditious and considerably cheaperthan has heretofore been possible. I attain these 0b 2 jects by thedevice illustrated in the accom- 'panying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a vertical section on line A A ofvFig. 2; Fig. 2 isa topplan; Fig. 3 is a vertical section on line B'B of Figs. 1 and 2; Fig. 4is a vertical section on line CC of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a vertcal sectionon line D-D of Fig. 2; Fig. 6 is a detail view of member 1; and Fig. 7is a section on line EE of Fig. 1.

Like characters of reference indicate like parts throughout the severalviews.

I provide a flume member a for delivering the aggregate material to andover spaced bars 6, through which water and the finer material passesinto flume a positioned beneath spaced bars I). At the lower end of.verted to one side.

spaced bars 6 I provide a hinged gate 0 to prevent the smaller materialfromrushing over the bars into the rock flume d, through which thecoarser material or rock is di- At the lower'end of flume a is a sandscreene which permits -,water and the finest grade of sand to passthrough same into sand flume j, as shown in Fig. 1. Spaced apart fromthe end of flume a is an-inclined baflie sand screen e over which thebalance of the material which sweeps over screen 6' passes by gravity.Material too coarse to pass through the in- "clined b'aflie sand screene passes'by gravity over saddle screen c being thoroughly I turned overand mixed in the process due to dropping of the material against screene.

the various slopes of the screens and the I "This operation, thoroughlyand efiectively Jseparatesall the sand from the gravel, the

sand'passing-through screens 6, e andc together with the water, intosand j.

Specification of Letters Patent.

tles. passes into sand and water flume j asillus- Patented Aug. 10,1915.

Application filed September 11, 1914. Serial No. 861,266.

On opposite sides of saddle screen 6 Iprovide gravel separators,indicated by f, as shown in Figs. 2 and 7. Clean water is sup-plied togravel separators 7 through perforated pipes, indicated by w, forthoroughly washing the gravel.

The gravel separators areprovided with bars, punched plates or screen's,by which the gravel is graded, according to the maximumsize' of finegravel desired, which may be suitably arranged as illustrated in Fig. 2.

Material above the maximum size of fine gravel desired passes by gravityover the gravel separators onto saddle plates 9, and thence intosuitable bins or other receptacles. Gravel separators f consist ofoppositely inclined or saddle screens (or bars 'or punched plates)having their lower ends contiguous with plates 9, as illustrated in Fig.4. The smaller material passing through separators f is deposited in theop positely inclined fine gravel flum'es la and if, as shown in Fig. 4.A baflie screen 7' as shown in Fig. 4, diverts the necessary water Iinto gravel flume 71. Flume screens 5 are provided in gravel flumes hand k (the latter not illustrated) to allow the wash water to passthrough into waste water flumes 9' such as shown in Fig. 2, and thegravel to pass over, by gravity, into bins or other receptacles as maybe desired.

Sand flume j is provided at its lower end with a sand box 74;, intowhich the sand set- Waste water and any excess of sand by which thegrading of sand is accom-' plished, the size and angle of inclination ofthe screen depending upon the size of material desired. As is obvious,material failing to pass through screen 70 to sand box K is swept alongflume into the waste.

It-will be understood that it is within the contemplation of myinvention to ,vary the dimensions of flumes,-bo xes, screens, bars,

punched plates, etc., particularly as regards their length and degree ofinclination. I may also vary the type of screens, etc., as

respects the relative size of mesh, etc. It'

- changes not affecting the combination of elements essential to myprocess of separating, washing and grading.

The detailed operation of my device is disclosed above in connectionwith the description of its construction, disclosing a method ofseparating, grading and wash ing material in the aggregate without theutilization of mechanical agitating mecha{ nism, and dependent uponhydraulic principles as pertaininglto volume and velocity of flow of theaggregate, this being obtained by the proper regulation of the angle of'inclination of sluices in relation tothe volume of water used, as moreexplicitly illustrated in the preceding description, in connection withthe accompanying drawings (see page 3), and comprising the deflection ofrock from a mass of sand and gravel; separation of gravel from sand; andsuccessive grading of separated sand and gravel by the operation ofgravity and water operating over stationary inclined flumes and screens,in continuous flow, as illustrated in the preferred form of theinvention disclosed in the accompanying drawings.

What I claim is:

1. In a device for separating, washing and grading sand and gravel, aflumehaving an inclined screen arranged in operative relation to itslower end, a second flume having its upper end positioned below theinclined screento receive sand; a saddle screen porators and the sandseparating elements,

substantially as described. g

2. In a device of the character described, a flume terminating in ascreening member, a second flume having its upper end positioned beneaththe screened portionof the first flume to receive sand and watertherefrom, a screen spaced beyond and disposed at' an angle to the lowerend of the first flume, and a plurality of saddle screens positioned toreceive and separate material failing to pass through theaforesaidscreen, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature, in the, presence oftwo witnesses.

WILLIAM CLAY THOMPSON.- Witnesses:

J OSEPH BowRoN, W. L. BAIR.

